I've blown something on my gaggia Classic. :-(

murphyebass

Need a little help. I was descaling my machine. Running through the 2nd lot of water, started smelling burning. Sure enough something had started to go wrong. It takes a while to draw the water through the machine for a descale so probably had it on too long.

Opened it up and there's smoke coming from the red part on the left of the picture. Something has blown.
Also the wire I'm holding doesn't seem to be connected. I don't know was it ever connected as I've never opened the top before.

Anyone know a gaggia classic repair place? Or how I could potentially fix this myself? Thanks in advance

Slaphead07

murphyebass wrote: »

Need a little help. I was descaling my machine. Running through the 2nd lot of water, started smelling burning. Sure enough something had started to go wrong.

Opened it up and there's smoke coming from the red part on the left of the picture. Something has blown.
Also the wire I'm holding doesn't seem to be connected. I don't know was it ever connected as I've never opened the top before.

Anyone know a gaggia classic repair place? Or how I could potentially fix this myself? Thanks in advance

Kenilworth Electric in Harold's Cross used t repair Gaggia products... I'd ring them first to check.

murphyebass

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Kenilworth Electric in Harold's Cross used t repair Gaggia products... I'd ring them first to check.

Fair play, thanks.

Called them there. €98 for a service and if I've blown say the solenoid valve it would cost another €68!!

**** it. Anyone do this in their spare time kinda like an Indy mechanic?

€98 seems mad for a service and another €68 potentially!

Krusty_Clown

Is the pump motor still running when turned on? Are you sure it's not an airlock?

My gaggia classic cost me 100 euro second hand (perfect condition) so I'd shop around before handing over 100+ euro for repairs.

alec76

Ulka pump( red part) cooked , probably, €25 at eBay .
I think You have to discale machine more often . Some large piece of a scale deposit went into the line/valve during discaling process ,blocked it , pump gone dry and blown after.
The only way to avoid large pieces is to discale machine more frequently IMO.
If you don't have DIY skills, just go for the second hand machine, that probably the cheapest option.

murphyebass

alec76 wrote: »

Ulka pump( red part) cooked , probably, €25 at eBay .
I think You have to discale machine more often . Some large piece of a scale deposit went into the line/valve during discaling process ,blocked it , pump gone dry and blown after.
The only way to avoid large pieces is to discale machine more frequently IMO.
If you don't have DIY skills, just go for the second hand machine, that probably the cheapest option.

I might try the diy end first. There's no soldering or anything required I assume. What's the deal with the yellow and green loose cable? Surely that should be inserted somewhere. I'll have do a search on wiring of the machine etc.

Fully agree on the descale, I've been leaving it on the loooooong finger if I'm honest and we live in a very hard water area. Lesson learnt.

Hopefully I can manage a fix myself as I don't have the funds right now to pay someone. :-(

Thanks a mil for the starting point though.

Well I bought that part. €26 all in

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/161208835371

Hope you're right. If not **** it, good to have parts. I want to get this machine working again so this whole process will be a learning experience.

ellobee

Regarding your loose wire, it looks like an earth wire so it should definitely be connected somewhere, possibly onto the metal casing of the machine, if you look around the casing for a small metal tab that the connector on the earth wire just pushes onto, maybe its on the lid that you took off, I dont know if thats metal or plastic.

murphyebass

Ah fair play. Lid is metal so maybe when I pulled it off. Cheers for that.

More questions to follow this weekend when I start fluttering around with it. I'll label and mark stuff as I go. Pictures with my phone etc so I know where **** goes back

Kowalencki

Hi there,
The cable you're holding is responsible for warming up the top lid (for the cups).

When discealing, did you pump the water through the steaming wand Or the group head?

From what you described it shold be the pump. I have Gaggia and done all maintenance myself so ask any questions and I'd be happy to help.

Cheers.
Michael

murphyebass

Kowalencki wrote: »

Hi there,
The cable you're holding is responsible for warming up the top lid (for the cups).

When discealing, did you pump the water through the steaming wand Or the group head?

From what you described it shold be the pump. I have Gaggia and done all maintenance myself so ask any questions and I'd be happy to help.

Cheers.
Michael

Thanks a mil. Boardsies are so kind.

I descaled it through the group head with the portafilter attached. Was hoping to clean it all in one go. Was gonna pump some water through the steam wand but didn't get that far.

Hopefully the part I bought does the job. Will let you know if I need help though

Thanks a mil

ellobee

Kowalencki wrote: »

Hi there,
The cable you're holding is responsible for warming up the top lid (for the cups).

I would very much doubt that, if there is a hot plate in the lid there would have to be some kind of element that would require more than 1 cable also the colour of the cable looks like its green and yellow which is the regulatory colour for the Earth/Ground wire, it also looks like it is coming directly from the earth side of the mains power input connector. Anyway I suppose it doesn't really matter what its function is, just make sure you reconnect it to the lid when you put it back together

murphyebass

So just a final thought on this one lads. Thanks for the help. I replaced the Ulka Pump (red part) this morning and it's back to working order. ****ing delighted I must say. Such a cheap fix and a bit of simple enough diy to fit.

I primed the system, replaced the rubber gasket while I was at it and am going to do a backflush now as well for good measure.

End result an incredibly clean and well working machine. Thank you so much.

Planet X

Well done! The satisfaction of doing it yourself is immense.
I have the newer Classic so when it goes belly up ......I'll be on your case, you being "the man in the know" now. Joking......kinda :D

murphyebass

Planet X wrote: »

Well done! The satisfaction of doing it yourself is immense.
I have the newer Classic so when it goes belly up ......I'll be on your case, you being "the man in the know" now. Joking......kinda :D

Yeah it's amazing how being broke can make you try stuff yourself instead of paying someone.

Thankfully not a lot to it but a bit daunting when you haven't done it before.

"Man in the know" may be a bit strong though. Lol.

Btw I edited the last post to say it was the Ulka Pump (red part) that I replaced. I don't know is that the motor which I originally said but that was the part I fried!! It had a little black burnt part on it when I took it out showing its wound.

Anyway I'm going to drink copious amounts of espresso today to make up for lost time!!